Front rotors

[scrappyslexus]

Is anyone experiencing issues with front rotors? I have two GX, about 12-15 k after new brakes the vehicles experience a lot of vibration. I am told by dealer rotors re warped. Anyone experiencing similar issue?

 

[Rednexus]

When vibration occurs soon after new pads and rotors (assuming the parts are good quality), it's usually due to uneven pad deposits on the rotos and (more often than not) the deposits are due to driving styles that aggressively use the brakes. The 460 has relatively thick front rotors and they should not be warping other than extreme conditions. Rotors on these should last around 50-70K miles before they start to need replacement.

If just the pads were replaced and your have high-mileage rotors it's probably worth to replace the rotors as they could be getting thin and actually warping.

If you rotors are new, it's probably pad deposits. Some folks have good luck fixing the braking vibration by re-bedding the pads (a series of hard brake applications followed by cool-downs). If that fixes it, I'd suggest reviewing and adjusting your driving style to avoid hard brake use outside of emergency situations.

 

[Roody]

What year is the vehicle? If it's new, and under warranty, Lexus should cover it.

 

[HVLA]

Pads werent bedded properly, wheels over torqued, sticky caliper

 

[ericm979]

Is anyone experiencing issues with front rotors? I have two GX, about 12-15 k after new brakes the vehicles experience a lot of vibration. I am told by dealer rotors re warped. Anyone experiencing similar issue?

Warped rotors are common on these. Mine came (used) with one front rotor warped. I got a vibration with moderate braking but not with light or heavy braking. I replaced the rotors and pads and bedded them in. The brakes work a lot better now!

 

[markthegrea]

Make sure you use good pads. Toyota or, as I use, Bosch pads. There is a lot of debate about "warping" but they don't warp. The pad overheats and bonds to the rotor.

Ive never had "warping" (still a good term, though missleading) on a GX.

On a side note, there were slotted and drilled rotors on my 470 and they looked fantastic. I will replace my 460s with slotted when they go bad.

 

[r2m]

Who did the original work? Or are they factory still?

 

[duratrac]

A lot of good opinions already given.

Just my opinion...
If for some reason you decide to get the rotors turned, just start saving for a new set of rotors. My experience since 1990 for any car, there isn't enough extra material on modern brake rotors to handle being turned and lasting; if anything it gets you a little time before replacement.

If I think the rotor is the issue and if it costs more than $20 to get it turned, I just go ahead and replace it with new the first time. Otherwise you will have two trips to the garage, putting the car up in the air, disassemble and reassemble. That is a lot of time, work and money to touch a sub $200 part twice.

 

[jonshonda]

As another poster mentioned rotors typically don't warp, but instead they become thicker in places due to excessive brake pad material deposits. Try performing a typical brake pad bed in procedure (for or five 60-5mph runs braking as hard as you can w/o locking up the brakes, then driving for a fairly long distance afterwards w/o coming to a complete stop). This will the brakes hot enough to burn off the pad deposits and should fix the vibration issues.

 

[r2m]

As another poster mentioned rotors typically don't warp, but instead they become thicker in places due to excessive brake pad material deposits. Try performing a typical brake bad bed in procedure (for or five 60-5mph runs braking as hard as you can w/o locking up the brakes, then driving for a fairly long distance afterwards w/o coming to a complete stop). This will the brakes hot enough to burn off the pad deposits and should fix the vibration issues.

Worth a try! Let us know the results.

 

[BigSwede]

Yep, "warped" rotors is a myth. But semantics aside, it is worth trying the previously mentioned re-bedding technique. This is a quote from Motor Trend: "Now that you understand what’s going on, here’s what you can do to help combat it. If caught early, you can often eliminate the shudder by rebedding the brakes. To do this, find a safe area where you can make a series of hard slowdowns from 50 mph to about 10 mph. Don’t come to a full stop. Doing this several times will heat up the material on the rotors and help smear it evenly on the face of the rotors again. Then drive around for a little while without stopping much to let the brakes cool off."